I HAVE RETURNED. And I have 2 dogtags...

Softening of Stone

Where is she? The question was on most of the minds of AVALANCHE, except for their missing member.

Vincent sat staring coldly out the window as the sky darkened and the first few drops of rain fell. Questions whirled through his mind. "Where is she? Did she get hurt? Why is it mattering so much to me?"

He clenched his fist as he thought about the small ninja not returning when she said she would. Two weeks had past since the day of her planned return. He had found himself happier after the news of her planning to return. Even Tifa had noticed the difference.

But it quickly changed when the young Wutain woman failed to arrive.

They all thought she had been held up with something. But as time went on they all realized she may have been hurt.

Tifa had finally rallied the gang together to search for her. Reeve had found a lead on some of the places she'd been as well.

"It's taking to long! Cid should've been here by now!" Vincent kept this thought to himself. If he had spoken it, he would have received strange looks. His aura seemed to say 'I don't care about others.' Very few saw through it.

"What if something has happened to her?" The thought entered his mind before he could stop it.

Vincent squeezed his eyes shut and gritted his teeth. Within him, Galien Beast rose up, trying to take control. Wolfish, possesive thoughts entered his mind, caused by the demon. "Who would hurt my ninja? Who could possibly harm my beautiful Wutain princess? I'll destroy whoever did!"

Vincent dug his fingers into the chair he sat in. He was a little alarmed at the thoughts and wondered where they had come from.

He stood and rushed out the door. He could feel Galien Beast fighting to free itself.

Vincent ran out of the city into the woods beyond. He paused only a moment as Galien Beast's form replaced his own. He thought as he continued to run. The possesive feeling pushed away, he struggled with the new feelings he felt whenever he thought of Yuffie. He didn't know why he felt them. He thought that these feelings had been washed from him when Lucrecia had died.

All of a sudden the terrain around him changed, and he was rushing through a hallway in a laboratory. As he ran through he saw a scientist carrying samples and needles. Vincent slashed and the man was dead in a moment.

Galien Beast's wolfish nose caught Yuffie's scent coming from far down the corridor. It let out a ferocious roar full of rage and longing. Using Galien Beast's massive claws, Vincent smashed through the door way.

"No!" Vincent cried out and fell to his knees, returned to his human form.

In front of the gunslinger was Yuffie's body, pale with the complection of death. She had scars on her arms and legs, and a very fresh wound running across her stomach. He felt tears come from his eyes that he thought had dried from past tragedies flow down his face. "No..." He whispered as blackness came down around him.

XxAwakexX

Vincent opened his eyes to the blackness of his room. He sat up, the nightmare fresh in his mind. He ran his hand through his hair and stood from his bed. He couldn't get past the feeling that Yuffie was in danger even though he knew it was irrational.

He was out of his room in a moment, walking down the hallway towards Yuffie's room.

Vincent gave three swift knocks on the door to her room. They were barely audable.

He waited a moment to see if she would come to the door. He was about to walk away when the door opened. Yuffie stood before him, rubbing her eyes groggily. "Vincent?"

She gasped as he pulled her into his arms in a tight hug. She hugged him back, still surprised at the action.

He pulled away and looked down. "I'm sorry..."

"Vinnie, is something wrong?" She tried to steal his gaze from the floor.

He took a deep breath and said, "I had a nightmare... Just please, Yuffie," His deep baritone voice got quieter, "don't leave again." His voice was firm but pleading.

"Don't worry, Vinnie! I'm not leaving again." She paused to think a moment before saying, "Nightmare, huh? Whenever I had a nightmare when I was little my mom would sit with me and watch a movie to get my mind off it. So how about, Vinnie? Let's go watch a movie and get your mind off it." Without waiting for an answer, Yuffie grabbed Vincent's hand and headed to the living room.

She made him sit on the couch and headed to the case of movies. She pulled out a DVD. "Wanna watch Mulan?"

Vincent nodded a yes and Yuffie put the movie in the DVD player. She hit play and returned to the couch. Sitting down next to him, she said, "This has been my favorite movie since I was old enough to understand it. There's a song in it that really fit me a few years ago."

Vincent sat with her and soon, the nightmare was in the back of his mind, nearly forgotten.

X~x~X~x~X~x~X

"We should probably leave later today if we want to make it." Cloud was talking to Tifa about the search for hojo. He followed her as she walked around packing essential items. It was early in the morning, not even seven yet, so the moved around quietly. Tifa set some potions on the counter and turned her direction to the living room. "And Nanaki said he could-"

Tifa shushed him as she looked through the door. She smiled as she spoke, "Be quiet!" She motioned for him to look through the door. His eyebrows shot up. Inside the living room, Yuffie and Vincent were sleeping. Vincent's head was in Yuffie's lap and she had her hands resting in his thick locks of hair.

Tifa slowly backed up and whispered, "Let them sleep."

X~x~X~x~X~x~X

"Red!" Yuffie voice was full of delight as she hugged the huge feline.

"Hello, Yuffie." Nanaki greeted her. "I am sorry that I couldn't get here earlier."

"It's fine! I'm glad you could come with us." She smiled. She looked over at Cloud. "Are we going to where I think we're going...?"

"I'm afraid so. We have to check the place you were taken. Don't worry, we'll all look out for you."

Yuffie nodded but bit her lip in worry. "When are we leaving?"

"Today." Cloud didn't like seeing his friend so scared. She was like a little sister to him.

Yuffie's frown deepened slightly. She didn't want to go to the place that her life had seemingly ended, the place where she had laid unmoving and read the last message she would ever get. Her fists clenched as she thought of the nightmares she had about that place.

"I had, uh, better go pack..." Yuffie used the excuse to leave the room. Shivers ran up her back at the thought of returning to the red fields.

She pulled out the sleeping bag she usually used and began to pack her neccesities. She grabbed a random bangle from her drawer and put some materia in the slots. She had plenty of materia to be able to put some in her conformer too. Once she was done, her hands fell into her lap and she fell into daydreaming. She stared blankly, not moving. Her thoughts flew, never staying in the same place.

She was snapped out of her thoughts by a knock on the door. She stood and opened it. Tifa was on the opposite side of it.

"Ready to go?" Tifa asked.

"Uh, yeah."

"Okay, can you get Vincent on your way down?"

"Sure."

Tifa returned downstairs as Yuffie grabbed her stuff.

Yuffie placed three knocks on Vincents door in quick procession. He opened the door almost immiediatly. "Yes?"

"Tifa told me to come get you. We're leaving soon." She smiled through her worry.

"Thank you." He nodded. As Yuffie began to turn away, he stopped her. "Are you okay with going there?"

After a moment she nodded. "If we don't stop him, he'll hurt too many people. Who knows what he's planning."

Vincent grabbed his supplies and slipped through his door. He caught up with Yuffie in a fews strides. He hesitated before giving her hand a quick reassuring squeeze.

I'm horribly sorry it took so long. I haven't been inspired of late. I've been inspired to write other stories, but this one not so much. I'll do my best to keep going.

R&R

I said REVIEW.